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Video from my Twitch Stream on December 7th talking about all these changes.

I have been talking about these changes today on Twitch, and in other places. Above is a link the highlighted portion of my stream where we went in depth into the changes coming in January and how they will hurt the following the folks:

  • Smaller creators
  • Folks who support a lot of people at $1, $3 and such.
  • International creators
  • Folks how have to pay VAT (Value Added Tax)

Long story short? This a bullshit change that will hurt folks supporting a lot of patrons at the $1 level; since it will now cost you $1.43 in USD to actually support each creator, per pledge. So let’s say you have a total of $20 in $1 pledges. Now you will actually be paying $24.30 and that’s if you only have to pay out in USD.

Let’s not forget int’l supporters of US creators have to deal with currency conversion, VAT which adds another $.23 cents so it will be nearly $2 for an int’l patron to keep supporting each person they support at the $1 level.

These changes don’t seem to hit as much if you are supporting people at a higher level. Such as someone supporting at the $5 level will only see an additional 50 cent increase, etc. They may as well have eliminated the $1 tier and called it done for what it will do to smaller folks; or for those folks like myself who have a majority of supporters at a $1, $3 or other tier.

It’s bullshit and they aren’t even giving creators an option to absorb the cost and keep it from you all. I’m not happy with this as it was sprung on creators with no notice and there was the expectation we’d soften the blow to our supporters.

I won’t do that to you, sell you a corporate line about how this is in everyone’s best interest. It’s not, straight up. So, if you can’t support here I get it and I understand entirely since this is a hurtful move for smaller creators, international creators who have to deal with currency rates along with VAT and folks who support a bunch of people at a $1 – $5 level.

I’ve gotten a bunch of pings, DM’s etc on what I’m going to do or other ways in which folks can support. Thank you all so much for reaching out. here’s how to continue to support my work elsewhere:

Thanks for all the support and I hope Patreon sees the damage they are doing to small creators & rolls back some of these things or gives us options to mitigate the losses that will come from people having to drop their support due to the cost.

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers attend the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make it better and more inclusive for everyone. She founded and was the EIC of Fresh Out of Tokens podcast where games culture was discussed and viewed through a lense of feminism, intersectionality and diversity. Now she’s a co-host on Spawn on Me Podcast. Along with all of that, she’s the Programming Coordinator for OrcaCon, she often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at multiple conventions throughout the year. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications.